


Tricks and Treats

by keelywolfe



Series: by any other name [30]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underfell (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underswap (Undertale), Angst, Fluff, M/M, Spicyhoney - Freeform, Underfell Papyrus (Undertale), Underswap Papyrus (Undertale), mentions of depression, papcest - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-08-17 02:17:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16507466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keelywolfe/pseuds/keelywolfe
Summary: Edge takes his brother’s advice and goes home. It’s always worse when Red is right.





	Tricks and Treats

 

* * *

It wasn't until he was in his car driving to New New home and saw the Human children in their costumes on the streets that Edge remembered it was Halloween. Stupidly, he’d forgotten, even though there had been speculation on the news that the coffee shop may have been burned last night due to some horrible sort of Devil's Night tradition.

The streets of New New home were more sparsely filled with Monster children, little hordes in witches costumes and devil's horns perched on their little heads.  
   
At their home, he was forced to park on the street because there were tables in the driveway, the jack-o-lanterns they'd carved sitting on the ends. One table was loaded with boxes, and Edge could only stare in resignation at the half-empty boxes of full-sized candy bars. The other table was loaded with was surely an already reduced collection of soda cans.

Between the tables, Stretch was sitting in a lawn chair and when he caught sight of Edge, he beamed, all but glowing in delight. As long as they had been together, Stretch never failed in his simple happiness to see him. No one else in his life had ever been so pleased with his presence and Edge wasn’t ashamed of the faint tears prickling in his sockets.

He loved this beautiful idiotic genius so damn much.

"hey, babe!" Stretch waved at him cheerily. He was wearing his Jack Skellington costume, the illusion marred by the blanket he had draped over his shoulders in a barrier against the growing chill. "what do you think?" Stretch gestured gleefully at his sugary horde. "and before you have a litter of kitties, i didn't go out, i had everything delivered to the front gate.”

Edge looked at the tables but what he saw was Stretch out of the corner of his eye, the darkened circles beneath his sockets, the too-wide, tremulous smile. One of his safe places had been burned to the ground and Edge had left him here alone for the better part of the day to deal with it on his own. The burn of realization that his brother had been right was chilled by his own regret; he could have come home earlier, he could have delegated a few more tasks out. It was what those teams were for and it was only his stubborn insistence at doing things himself that had kept him at the Embassy. 

"well?" Stretch asked impatiently.  
   
"I’m beginning to understand why there were so many mobs with torches and pitchforks in old movies," Edge managed around the acid taste of his regret. "I'm thinking there might be one of parents in our driveway by the end of the night."

"spoilsport!" Stretch laughed. His smile faded a bit, turned strained. "we were supposed to take the kids downtown, hit up all the monster friendly businesses. i mean, it seemed like it would be fun, the kids are pretty damn cute all dressed up. after what happened, we decided it probably wasn’t a good idea." He lifted his chin defiantly. "so i’m making sure the kids get their fucking treats."

Something was wrong. Past what had happened and Stretch’s obvious exhaustion. Stretch was fidgety, often twirling his lighter through his fingers like a magician flipped a coin or toying with whatever was in reach. His hands were always busy but now he seemed a little jerky, almost twitching--

\--he’d forgotten to take his meds. They'd been at what was left of the Beanery until well after dawn, stopping only at a local fast food place for cardboard-tasting pastries and coffee that neither of them wanted to drink and still did. Edge allowed them to eat in the car, something he never permitted, but he didn’t want them to get out. He'd noticed Stretch turn off the alert on his phone, had made an absent mental note to remind him. Rus had been so tired; he needed more sleep than Edge to begin with and he’d been so patient the entire time they’d been there. Following Edge with quiet obedience, keeping back while he asked questions and made phone calls. Small wonder he'd been drowsing with his head against the window for most of the ride home. 

Edge had dropped him off at home, sleepy and hollow-eyed, not even bothering to walk him inside, and he'd gone in to the Embassy to get to work. He’d left Stretch here alone after his friend's shop had burned down, the place Stretch went every other day for coffee and laughter with the baristas, he'd left him alone...

Silently, Edge slipped to his knees in front of Stretch and wrapped his arms around him, burying his face into his lap to keep himself from seeing Stretch's careworn face. The concrete of the driveway was uncomfortable through his thin trousers and he didn’t care, pushed aside any discomfort to breathe in the smell of too many cigarettes and sweet magic.

Stretch startled but made no move to push him away. "edge? babe?" Tentative hands settled on his shoulders and skull, the slender bones cool from the chilly air. "are you okay?”

 _No,_ he didn't say. _No, I am not okay, I failed you, so much today. I failed you and you're going to forgive me because I_ know _you. I won't deserve it, but I'll accept it, I love you, need you, love you—_

"Yes," he said, softly, muffled against fabric. He drew away and stood, glancing away from Stretch’s worried expression. "Let me make dinner and I’ll bring you something to eat."

“yeah, okay,” Stretch agreed but the worry followed Edge as he went into the house. 

Something quick and easy seemed best and Edge made grilled cheese sandwiches, reheating tomato bisque that he’d made earlier in the week to go along with it. He set everything on a tray, along with a little medicine cup that held a few colorful pills.

A group of laughing children were darting away when he went back outside, their parents following along with weary indulgence and Stretch was laughing as well, waving after them.

“did you see that costume?” Stretch snickered, “how do you even deal with a kid who wants to be a sharknado for halloween?”

“As something better than a fair weather friend, I’d assume,” Edge offered. He set the tray on a cleared corner of the table.

Stretch groaned theatrically, “okay, even i think that was awful—“ His expression changed when he caught sight of the little pill cup, carefully still. “oh. right.”

He snagged a soda from the table and swallowed them down without protest. They ate in silence, broken occasionally by eager children and shouts of “trick or treat!”

When Stretch had eaten the last bite of his sandwich, sopping it in the dregs of his soup like a heathen, Edge set the tray carefully under the table.

“Could you stand for a moment?”

Bewildered, Stretch did. Edge promptly sat in his chair and pulled Stretch into his lap, his back to Edge’s chest, tucking his blanket warmly around him.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly against the side of Stretch’s skull. “I’m so sorry I’ve been distant all day when you needed me.”

“what…love, you were busy, not distant,” Stretch tried to twist in his arms to look at him, giving up when Edge refused to loosen his embrace. “come on, i can tell the difference.”

“Maybe I can’t." He couldn't stand that easy forgiveness, not right now. "Can I just…hold you for a little while?”

“well, you’re twisting my arm here but i think i can handle it.” He sprawled back against Edge, wriggling enough to make Edge wince as his pelvis shifted against his own but he finally settled, sighing contentedly and resting his hands atop Edge’s. 

“kids are gonna complain we’re being mushy.” He didn’t sound very worried about it.

“Let them.”

The silence was brief, which Edge knew he should have expected. Stretch had never been able to keep from picking at a scab. “babe? You're always going on about me not being so hard on myself. take your own advice, maybe?” He squeezed Edge’s hand gently. ”you know can talk to me about anything.”

Edge kept his cheekbone pressed between Stretch's shoulderblades. He closed his sockets and it was easier to speak with that darkness, listening to the distance in his own voice, “I told you that Underswap Papyrus wasn’t a bad person. I can’t say the same about Underfell Papyrus.”

He felt Stretch sigh, heard his heavy exhalation, “if you’re looking for someone to judge you for doing what you needed to survive in that shithole, you’ve got the wrong guy. i made that mistake once when we first met, i won’t do it again.”

He winced a little, helplessly, cringing into Stretch’s back and it was equal parts touching and disconcerting that Stretch knew why.

“sorry, sorry, i know, it’s still sort of home. if it’s any consolation, underswap was kinda a shithole towards the end there. what was left of it.”

He hummed noncommittally, having had more than enough confessions for the day. This time he allowed Stretch to squirm in his lap until he could look at him, “When did you train with my brother?”

Stretch rolled his eye lights. “did he seriously bring that up? training, shit, that was a twenty minutes of drunken conversation at a bar. he did give me a couple tips. talked about how you should always keep behind the lead, keep a few steps behind and in line of sight. always let the more powerful monster go first or at least the one that’s perceived as more powerful, since we both know i could kick your ass,” he added cheekily.

Edge traced his cheekbone with a gentle fingertip. “Only because I could never hurt you.”

“yeah, okay, go ahead and kill the joke with your undying affection,” he sighed, “it died a worthy death and i have more.”

The dark circles were still beneath Stretch’s sockets and Edge suspected they might be there for some time yet. But his smile was gentle and real and begged for a soft kiss against it, and Edge was happy to oblige.

“Trick or…ewww!”

Laughing softly, Stretch drew away with a wink, “don’t worry, i got this.” He rolled to his feet, casting off his blanket and stood tall with his arms outstretched as he boomed, ”come forth and choose! one candy bar and one can of soda, per, kiddos.”

Edge leaned forward, his hands dangling between his knees, smiling faintly as he watched Stretch laugh and tease the children, their parents watching with fond indulgence from not far away. 

Perhaps he wasn’t always the person he wished he could be, but he was a person that Stretch could love. It was enough.

Finis


End file.
